Winners of concerto-aria competition to perform concert with orchestra on Feb. 6

Concert: Concerto-aria competition winners concert
Date and time: Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Sauder Concert Hall, Goshen College Music Center
Cost: $7 adults, $5 seniors/students. GC students free with ID. Tickets are available at the door.

GOSHEN, Ind. – The five winners of the annual Goshen College Concerto-Aria Competition will perform along with the college's orchestra, directed by Associate Professor of Music Gregg Thaller, in the Music Center's Sauder Concert Hall on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Senior and soprano Carrie Rivera (Nappanee, Ind.), a music major, and senior and baritone Martin Brubaker (Goshen), a music and communication double major, will perform the duet "Papageno... Papagena" from W.A. Mozart's opera, Die Zauberflšte. Rivera is a 2006 graduate of NorthWood High School. Brubaker is a 2007 graduate of Bethany Christian Schools.

Sophomore and violinist Elspeth Stalter (Iowa City, Iowa), a music and English double major, will perform the first movement from Henri Vieuxtemps' Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Minor, Op. 37. Stalter is a 2008 graduate of West High School.

Senior and horn player Allen Shenk (Findlay, Ohio), a music major, will perform the first movement from W.A. Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat Major, K. 447. Shenk is a 2006 graduate of Findlay Senior High School.

Senior and pianist Lydia Short (Kalona, Iowa), a mathematics and piano pedagogy double major, will perform the first movement from Camille Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto in G Minor. Short is a 2006 graduate of Iowa Mennonite School.

Sophomore and pianist Jay Mast (Goshen), a theater and music double major, will perform the first movement from Franz Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, S. 12. Mast is a 2008 graduate of Bethany Christian Schools.

Thaller has been a full-time teacher of music for 23 years in public and private high schools as well as state and private colleges such as Boston University, University of Cincinnati, Southwest Baptist University, Evangel University, East Stroudsburg University, McPherson College and Salem State College, where he served as chairperson of the music department. His degrees are in music education and are from Boston University, the University of Hartford's Hartt School of Music and the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. He has undergone additional orchestral-conducting study at Bard College, University of Iowa, University of South Carolina, Eastman School of Music and the Naples Philharmonic in Florida. As a percussionist, Thaller has performed with groups such as the Springfield (Mo.) Symphony, the Wichita Grand Opera, the Eastern Connecticut Symphony, the Massachusetts Wind Orchestra, the U.S. Coast Guard Band, the Interlochen Faculty Brass Ensemble and a faculty jazz trio.

Tickets for the concert can be purchased at the door and cost $7 for general admission, $5 for students and seniors and free for GC students with ID.

Editors: For more information about this release or to arrange an interview, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.